The Venomous Lizard
by House of B
Summary: This story takes place in the aftermath of Sam Raimi's Spider-man 3. Peter Parker left a sample of the Symbiote to Dr. Connors, but what did Dr. Connors do with it? Join Charles Xavier, Dr. Hank McCoy and of course Peter Parker at Dr. Connors press conference to find out. But be warned, something goes terribly wrong!
1. Chapter 1

The Venomous Lizard

Chapter 1

_Dr. Curtis Connors lab, ESU. 3 months ago…_

"This is it Rebecca. After more than a year of positive results on mice, it's now time for human testing"

Dr. Connors turns and looks over at his research partner Dr. Rose, a 42 years-old bioengineer. Her jet-black hair, green eyes and snow-white skin made her a very attractive woman. She joined Dr. Connors team a little less than a year ago and quickly became a valuable asset. Previously, Dr. Rose was employed by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB), where she worked most of her life.

Dr. Connors knows that Dr. Rose is just as excited as he is if not more. After all, if human testing turns out to be positive, not only will she be changing the lives of millions of people, but most importantly, she'll be fulfilling the promise she made to her daughter Caroline.

Caroline Rose was a beautiful promising 12-year-old girl. Her thick brown hair, always tied up in a ponytail, revealed the most piercing blue eyes imaginable. She was bright, funny, witty and full of dreams. Above all she wanted to become a professional soccer player. Ever since she kicked her first soccer ball at the age 3, she knew that's all she wanted to do. She ate, drank and breathe soccer.

One day, after soccer practice, Rebecca noticed ecchymosis on Caroline's legs. She thought nothing of it. What's more normal than a soccer player with bruises on her legs? But then the bruises started getting bigger and bigger, so they decided to go to the hospital and that's when they got the devastating news. Caroline was diagnosed with necrotizing fasciitis, commonly known as "flesh eating disease". The bacteria attacked her legs first. In order to save her life, they had to amputate her legs.

Caroline was never the same after. Everything she always wanted in life was to play soccer professionally and that dream was now no more. She fell in a deep depression. Rebecca couldn't even recognize her own daughter anymore. No more soccer, no more smiling, no more dreams, no more Caroline…

At that moment, Rebecca realized that she had to do something to get her daughter back. She submerged herself in research on limbs regeneration and that's when she heard about Dr. Curtis Connors. She decided to join his team in order to give back to her daughter the life she once knew and maybe see her smile one more time.

_Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. Now…_

"X-Men, meet me in the war room please"

"On my way Professor" answers Jean by means of the psylink they share.

Minutes later, Jean walks in the war room accompanied by Beast and Banshee. Storm, Colossus, Nightcrawler and Cyclops were already there waiting for them with the Professor.

"Thanks for coming everyone. I just wanted to inform you that I'll be attending a demonstration on genetic cell reconstruction at ESU this evening. In my absence, you'll oversee the school."

Without missing a beat, Dr. Hank McCoy interjects:

"Genetic cell reconstruction? Who is the lead scientist of that study Professor?"

"Dr. Curtis Connors. He was a gifted surgeon who enlisted in the army and was sent off to war. While performing emergency battlefield surgery on wounded G.I.s, his right arm was injured in a blast and had to be amputated. This is when he started focusing his research on limb regeneration. He started working as a Professor at ESU and did tons of research on how some species were able to grow back their limbs, especially reptiles. His research never lead to any positive conclusion, except for now. He claims to have find a way to grow back amputated limbs by using genetic cell reconstruction."

"Fascinating. Would it be a bother to have me tag along, Professor?"

"Not at all Hank. In fact, I was just about to ask you if you'd like to accompany me to the event tonight. Having a brilliant mind like yours by my side can only make this demonstration more interesting. Unless you would rather watch the live coverage on T.V.?"

"Thank you, Professor. It will be my pleasure to join you."

"Splendid! Jean? We'll keep our psylink open. If you have any problems, contact me at once."

"Sure thing Professor. And don't worry, I'm confident we can manage to keep everyone safe. After all, it's like you said, I feel a great swell of pity for the poor soul that comes to our school looking for trouble"

They smiled at each other as if they understood a joke nobody else did. Feeling a bit left out of this conversation, Cyclops, as the leader of the X-Men, tries to assert himself:

"The rest of the team, we'll watch the live coverage. A discovery like that is something that can affect mankind and mutantkind alike."

And, as the team walked out of the war room, with a smile in his voice, Charles added:

"Thank you, Jean. That's quite reassuring Scott. Hank, we're leaving in 10 minutes"


	2. Chapter 2

The Venomous Lizard

Chapter 2

_E.S.U labs…_

The lab was packed. Professors, scientists, students, T.V. reporters, cameramen and photographers filled the room. Due to his wheelchair, Professor Xavier and Beast had a place reserved for them in the front row, with the cameramen and photographers. Next to the professor was a little girl in a wheelchair. Charles looked at her and smiled.

"Hello there. I'm Charles. What's your name?"

"I'm Caroline."

"Aren't you a little young to be here Caroline?"

"I'm here because of my mom. She works with Dr. Connors and she told me she has a surprise for me."

"Really? Do you have any idea what it could be?"

"No, all she told me was that I'll be able to get a second chance."

"Well, you're very lucky. We don't always get a second chance in life. Better make it count."

Caroline smiles politely.

In front of them was a stainless-steel table with lab equipment covered by a cloth. The different shapes revealed by the cloth made it difficult to decipher what was hiding under it. As Beast looks around, he turns to the Professor:

"This is very impressive. Everybody who's anybody is in this room. It looks like the entire scientific community is here."

"I know, but there's something not quite right. I can feel a presence. Something nonhuman."

"A mutant?"

"No, it's something else. Its…"

And before he can finish his thought, he gets interrupted by the sound of people clapping as Dr. Connors takes front stage.

"Ladies and gentlemen good evening. I am Doctor Curtis Connors; this is my partner Doctor Rebecca Rose, and welcome to our demonstration on genetic cell reconstruction. Before we start, let me ask you: what if soldiers who lost a limb defending our great country could recover them? What if people who had to go through amputations because of accidents or disease could get back what they thought was lost forever? What if these people, our friends, our family, our loved ones, could get a second chance? Tonight, we will demonstrate how we can regrow missing limbs thanks to genetic cell reconstruction. Tonight, we are here to give them their second chance."

The room is inundated by applause and murmurs. Dr. Rose looks over at her daughter sitting in the front row. She finally sees that long-lost smile she was looking for.

As soon as the clapping and murmurs starts to fade, April Maye, a reporter from the Daily Globe, jumps on the occasion to ask the first question:

"But Doctor Connors, how is that possible? Scientists have been experimenting with different species of animals and never succeeded. The human body always rejected the cells."

"I'm glad you asked, Mrs. Maye. If you don't mind, I'll let Dr. Rose answer the question while I prepare the presentation. Rebecca, if you please?"

"My pleasure Dr. Connors. First, let me say that you are correct Mrs. Maye. Previous experiments failed due to the lack of compatibility between human DNA and the DNA of other species able to regrow limbs. But our research is not based on animal DNA. It's based on this!"

As Dr. Rose turns and point at the stainless-steel table at the front of the room, Dr. Connors removes the cloth in a dramatic way, as if it was the grand finale of a magic trick. Test tubes, beakers, syringes, a couple of mice in a cage and a little glass box containing what looked like tar, but not quite. It seemed to be moving on its own. It seemed alive and it seemed to be getting more and more agitated.

An awe falls over the crowd. Beast turns to Professor Xavier:

"Professor, what is that?"

"I… I don't know. I've never seen anything like it. It's a living organism… I… I can hear its thoughts"

The shutterbug snapping picture next to Beast answers:

"It's an alien symbiote. It needs to bond to a host, but it tends to bring out the worst in its host."

The two mutants turn to see who knew so much about something nobody ever saw before. The shutterbug slowly lowers his camera. His face is riddled with concerns. His eyes are fixated on the little glass box. Its content getting even more agitated. The symbiote is now banging itself against the contour of the box, as if it was trying to break free.

Mutant powers weren't needed to see that the young man was worried by the sight of the symbiote.

Perplexed, Professor Xavier asks:

"How do you know all this?"

"A couple of years ago, this symbiote took Eddie Brock as host. They called themselves Venom. He decided to go after Mary Jane Watson to hurt me. Spider-man defeated Venom and rescued Mary Jane. The Daily Bugle did an article on it. I was the photographer. I'm Peter Parker."

Looking back at the glass box, Xavier notices that the symbiote was getting more and more agitated. He can now clearly hear its thoughts in a deep cavernous voice, and they were calling for Peter Parker. Even more perplexed than before, Xavier says:

"Is it possible that it doesn't like to be cooped up in that little box? It looks like it's trying to break free and find a host"

Peter Parker and Charles Xavier locked eyes for a couple of seconds. For Peter, those seconds felt like hours. Their silence broke when April Maye asked:

"Doctor Connors, how did you get your hands on such a specimen?"

Peter knew that he was responsible for this. He was the one that found it and brought a sample to Dr. Connors to study. He knew that if Dr. Connors revealed the true origins of this sample, he would have a lot of questions to answer. Questions to which he couldn't answer without revealing his identity. But for once, the Parker luck did not prevail.

"If you don't mind, I'd like to proceed with the demonstration and answer all your questions afterward. I'm pretty sure you are all anxious to see our demonstration. For tonight, I'll be serving as test subject."

Dr. Connors rolls up his sleeve. Dr. Rose approaches with a syringe containing a clear liquid and explains:

"This syringe contains a serum we developed called the "Second chance serum". While studying the alien symbiote's DNA, Dr. Connors discovered that it has a very high regeneration capability. We then isolated the appropriate cells, duplicated it and started to work from there. Although it allows a human being who lost a limb to regrow it in a matter of seconds, it is not yet effective on people who were born with a missing limb. Since Dr. Connors lost his arm in a war accident, here's what happens when I inject the serum."

Rebecca injects her research partner with the serum and, as predicted, in a matter of seconds, Dr. Connors finds himself with 2 full-grown functioning arms. Caroline's face lights up as the miracle unfolds before her eyes. She looks over at her mom, both fighting back tears of joy. Once again, the crowd is shocked and awed. They did it! The two doctors are all smiles.

Professor Xavier softly bumps Caroline's elbow to get her attention. She looks back at him and they both smile. Everyone in the crowd smiles and clap with amazement. Everyone but Peter Parker.

**He knows** what usually comes next, and by the way his spider-sense has been buzzing for the past couple of minutes, he would be willing to bet Aunt May's house on it. Doctor Connors will transform into the Lizard and Spider-man will have to jump into action.

Without wasting a second, Peter turns and tries to make his way through the crowd to exit the lab and find somewhere to slip into his blue and red suit. The crowd is so thick, and the people are so impressed with the discovery, that no one gives an inch. Peter gets impatient and struggles to get away.

The more Peter struggles, the more the symbiote sample gets agitated and tries to reach him. It is now banging itself against the side of the box, trying to get out. Bang! Nothing. Bang! The symbiote make a small dent in the glass. Bang! The dent turns into a crack. Bang! The symbiote is now free from the glass container.

Trying to understand what happened, Doctor Rose immediately looks to Doctor Connors for an answer. Without even looking back at her, he rushes to the table to find a way to contain the alien fugitive. He grabs a beaker off the table to drop it on the symbiote. As soon as he gets within inches of it, the symbiote jumps on Dr. Connors' hand. It has found a new host.

The symbiote spreads all over his body. Dr. Connors screams in agony trying to fight it, trying to rip it off him. The crowd panics and rushes to the nearest exit. The fire alarm goes off. Someone must have pulled it on the way out to alert the authorities. Beast and the Professor turned their attention to little Caroline sitting next to them, making sure she was safe.

Panic, fear and stress takes over Dr. Connors letting the Lizard break free. He trashes around trying to fight off the transformation, but all in vain. With a quick whip of the tail he accidently hits Dr. Rose on the right calf, slashing it open. It's a deep cut. Tendons and ligaments were ripped. She screams in pain, but the pain won't stop her from reaching her daughter. Rebecca limps her way down the aisle and over to Caroline who's accompanied by Mr. McCoy and the Professor.

"Caroline? Caroline? Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"I'm okay, mom. I'm okay."

Dr. Rose turns to The Professor and Mr. McCoy:

"Thank you. Thank you for keeping her safe."

"Our pleasure, doctor. But now you should really get out of here and get to safety," replied Beast.

Dr. Rose agrees and rolls her daughter toward the exit. Beast and Xavier turns to help Dr. Connors, but what they see leaves them dead in their tracks. Dr. Connors was fighting off the symbiote with all his might, but to no avail. The symbiote kept growing and growing. The transformation was nothing any one has ever seen before. The symbiote now completely merged with the Lizard, giving us a venomized version of the Lizard. This time the lab coat didn't just rip on Dr. Connors back, it was thorn to shreds.

Standing over 7 feet tall, the venomized Lizard dwarfed Beast. Beast had to look up at him.

"Oh, my stars and garters… Professor, I think you better call for back up"

"You asked for back up Beastie? How about your friendly neighborhood Spider-man?"


	3. Chapter 3

The Venomous Lizard

Chapter 3

_The Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters. 10 minutes ago…_

Jean, Scott, Colossus, Nightcrawler, Storm and Banshee are gathered in the foyer to watch the live coverage of Dr. Connors demonstration. As they're watching Dr. Connors speech about second chances, Scott expresses his thoughts:

"Why do I get the feeling that whether this goes well or bad it will somehow turn against mutants?"

Jean and Storm lets out a little laugh of derision. With his thick Russian accent Colossus replies:

"Have a little faith my friend. You can always be surprised."

Their attention turns back to the T.V. just in time to see Dr. Connors revealing what was hiding under the cloth. The camera zooms in on the little glass box containing the symbiote sample. After a few seconds of silence, Banshee asks out loud what everybody was secretly thinking:

"Hum, guys? What the hell is that thing?"

Without giving anybody else the chance to answer, Scott says:

"THAT, is the reason why mutants are going to be blamed for this."

Trying to rationalize things, Storm adds:

"That thing is not even mutant, Scott. Why would we get blamed for this?"

"Because it's human nature. People tend to associate things that looks alike. All Arabs are terrorists, all Italians are mobsters, all mutants are bad. Haven't you heard that enough to know that I'm right?"

Still, Storm tries to convince him:

"Yes, but that thing doesn't look like any of us."

"Does Beak look like any of us? Does Glob look like any of us? Do Beast or Nightcrawler look like any of us? No, yet they are all a part of this team."

Jean interrupts their little debate:

"Hey guys, look at Dr. Connors! It worked! He regrew his arm."

"Bozhe moy!"

"Mein Gott!"

Only Colossus and Nightcrawler said something, but the rest of the X-Men were just as shocked. They sat in silence watching the miracle happen. It didn't last long before chaos ensued.

_E.S.U. labs. Now…_

When she gets to the elevator, Dr. Rose pushes the button to call it to her floor. Nothing. She pushes it again and again and again. Still nothing. She soon realizes that due to the fire alarm going off, the elevators shut down for safety measures, but for Caroline and Rebecca the nightmare is just beginning. Their only option is to take the stairs. She tries picking up her daughter to carry her to safety, but her injury does not allow it. The weight is too much for her to support on one leg, she needs help. Rebecca and her daughter head back looking for someone to help them.

Swinging his way over what's left of the panicked crowd, Spider-man perches himself high on the wall close to the ceiling. A very surprised Beast inquires:

"Spider-man? What are you doing here?"

"Well, I was in the neighborhood and thanks to my spider hearing I heard someone asked for back up, so voilà!"

"I didn't know spiders had special hearing."

"They don't. I made it up. Goes to show you that no one really knows my pow-…."

Before Spidey can finish his sentence, their delightful conversation was interrupted by a flying filing cabinet heading for Beast and the Professor. Beast grabbed the Professor and jumped out of the way just in time to see Charles' wheelchair being crushed.

"Professor? Are you all right?"

"Yes, thank you Hank."

Hank jumps back into action to help Spider-man take on the Venomized Lizard and keep him away from the last of the exiting crowd. Through the psylink he shares with Jean, the Professor can hear her calling out to him:

"Professor? Are you and Hank alright? We're heading to the Blackbird right now. We are on our way."

"Thank you Jean, but it won't be necessary. Spider-man is here also. He and Hank should be able to handle the situation. Please stay at the Mansion. We'll maintain our communication through our psylink."

Suddenly, the emergency exit doors bust back open. 4 of New York's finest arrives at the scene, armed to the teeth.

"Spider-man! Mr. McCoy! Please stand down. We'll take care of this."

Spider-man drops down from the ceiling right next to the 6'4", 350lbs of muscle, sergeant.

"Excuse me sergeant…", Spider-man waits for the sergeant to say his name.

"That's sergeant Kincaid," answers the mountain of muscles.

"Sergeant Kincaid, I really think you should let us handle this one. Have you…"

Spider-man can't even finish his sentence that the sergeant pushes him out of the way and with an unequaled arrogance says:

"Let the big boys handle it son. We're armed with 2 Birds bullets (see 2 Birds 1 Stone by the same author); nothing can stand up to them."

Kincaid turns to his fellow policemen:

"Alright boys, lets bring the monster down."

Gunshots are fired straight at the transformed Dr. Connors, hitting him square in the chest. Once the bullets land, you can hear the vibration of the 2 Birds bullets. The giant Lizard stops his rampage for a couple of seconds, as if wondering what just hit him. The symbiote tries to absorb the bullets, but as soon as they stop vibrating, a couple of explosions goes off. All the policemen cheered like Chief Brody after he killed the shark. But unlike chief Brody, they did not kill the shark.

The smoke cleared revealing an even angrier Venomized Lizard. By looking in its eye, it was clear he was now out for revenge. He picks up the stainless-steel table in front of him and hurls it at the policemen. Quick to react, Beast jumps to move the policemen out of the way while Spidey, catches the table and sets it on the floor.

Feeling a bit less confident, sergeant Kincaid looks at Beast and says:

"Yeah… Hum… Maybe we should try your way. See what it can do."

And with his calm and polite demeanor Beast retorts:

"Thank you, sergeant Kincaid, but our way means getting you and your companions to safety first."

He points to the door, letting the policemen know what he expects of them and that's when he hears a woman's scream:

"Help! Help! We need help!"

It's Dr. Rose and her daughter. Without loosing a second, Beast tells sergeant Kincaid:

"Sergeant, you and your men help them down the stairs and get every one to safety quickly!"

The four members of the NYPD rushes to help the Rose family. Beast heads back into action to help a now slightly beaten up Spider-man. He tries to jump on the back of the Venomized Lizard but, before he can reach his destination, gets welcomed by a massive tail that sends him flying. Hank crashes in the ceiling above the emergency exit. Debris comes crashing down blocking the doors, hence trapping Rebecca, Caroline and the NYPD in the lab.

Beast recovers just in time to hear sergeant Kincaid say:

"We're trapped!"

"Don't worry my friend," Beast says. "Everybody, join the Professor. Sergeant, please make sure everyone stays safe."

Beast jumps back in the fight. Kincaid nods and takes everyone over next to Professor Xavier. Charles welcomes them all and tries to reassure Caroline the best he can but realizes that the fight is not going their way. He analyzes the fight looking for a way to defeat this monster but can't seem to find one. He looks towards Spider-man for answers:

"Spider-man, if I'm not mistaken you fought the Lizard before. How did you manage to defeat him?"

Dodging attacks and trying to get a few punches in, Spider-man answers:

"I fought the Lizard before, but this is not the Lizard I know."

"Then what is it"

"It's a hybrid between the Lizard and the symbiote. He's much bigger, faster, stronger and more vicious. His abilities are amplified by the symbiote. Personally, I would say he's a Lizbiote but I'm pretty that's offensive to some people."

Beast trying to keep calm:

"That's very considerate of you Spider-man, but I fail to see how this is of any help."

"Well Beastie, it's not. I'm just trying to buy some time to come up with something."

Charles, still in the equation:

"How have you defeated him in the past?"

"The Lizard or the symbiote? Because that's two separate things. The symbiote is sensible to sonic blasts and fire. As for the Lizard, there are a couple of ways, but none of which matters right now because he's protected by the symbiote."

Between trying to web up the Venomized Lizard and getting a few kicks in, Spidey adds:

"Wait… I just thought of something. Once, I defeated him by talking to him. I was able to reach Dr. Connors and connected with him. Calmed him down, so he can take control again. But right now, I doubt he would listen."

Dodging claws and jaws filled with sharp teeth; Beast seems to have found a way:

"Professor, do you think you would be able to reach the mind of Dr. Connors? That would be of great help."

Xavier agrees:

"I'm willing to try, but it would mean I'll have to break through the mind of the symbiote, the Lizard and only then would I be able to reach Dr. Connors."

"Don't worry Professor. Take your time. We've got everything under control," says Spider-man trapped in the clutches of the monster.

Professor Charles Xavier closes his eyes and ventures his way in the mind of the unknown.


	4. Chapter 4

The Venomous Lizard

Chapter 4

Professor X tries to open his eyes to get a view of his surroundings but can't. Wave after wave of black tar-like substance come crashing down on him, barely giving him time to catch his breath much less open his eyes. The swell between waves give the Professor the seconds he needs to get a glimpse of where he is. He finds himself in an angry sea of black liquid. He can see the shore on the not too distant horizon. In his mind, he can hear a million different thoughts, like a million whispers, until one got louder and clearer than the rest. A raspy, cavernous voice breaks free:

"Welcome Charles, we're glad you decided to join us."

Charles recognizes the voice. It's the same voice he heard earlier in his mind in Doctor Connors lab. The voice of the alien being. He quickly understands that he's not in Doctor Connors mind, but more likely in the mind of the alien symbiote and that he's not alone. Between two mouthfuls of the black tar-like liquid, Charles gets to reply:

"What do you want from me? Why am I here?"

"What we want is not from you Charles. You're here because you want to reach Curt Connors, but we won't let you. Connors is ours. We're using him to get to the Spider."

Xavier tries to fight his way to the shore. The more he inches closer the angrier the sea gets, forcing him to take smaller breaths each time. Every time he seems to be gaining a couple of inches, the sea makes sure to drag him a foot back.

"Where are you going Professor? Are you trying to reach the shore? Let's see if you can make it."

Xavier keeps fighting to get away. The sea keeps pulling him back. He keeps fighting to breath. Keeps fighting for his life. His muscles burning with exhaustion. His lungs burning from lack of oxygen. Fatigue gets the better of him. Whatever energy is left in him, is used to keep his head above the sea.

Sensing that the end is near for the intruder, the symbiote decides to end it:

"You've put up a good fight Professor. Now it's lights out for you. Say goodnight."

The black tar-like substance begins to slowly densify. Becoming heavier with each second passing, slowly pushing Xavier down. The Professor can hear the million whispers all around him again. They're all saying:

"Say goodnight Charles. Say goodnight Charles. Say goodnight Charles. Say goodnight Charles. Say goodnight Charles. Say goodnight Charles."

As much as Charles wants to fight to keep his head above, he just can't anymore. His chin goes under. He kicks his legs faster, but nothing happens. His mouth is covered. He kicks harder, still nothing. He tries to take a last breath through his nose before being completely submerged, but too little too late…. Nothing.

_Meanwhile… Back at The Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters._

Using the psi-link that was established between her and Professor X, Jean is playing witness to Professor Xavier's faith. She calls out to Beast who is still with Spider-man trying to keep everybody safe back at ESU:

"Hank! The professor needs our help! He seems to be drowning in a sea of tar!"

Dodging claws, jaws and tail whippings, Beast answers back:

"I'm afraid that's not tar Jean. The professor must have entered the mind of the alien symbiote instead that of Doctor Connors. According to Spider-man, the only things that can get through to the symbiote are sonic waves or fire. Which might be problematic since neither you nor I have the ability to produce one or the other."

"Ok, thanks Hank. Let me see what I can do."

_Back in the Symbiote's mind…_

As he's being dragged to the bottom, Xavier's thoughts turn to his students. It's with a heavy heart that he wishes he could see them one last time. He finds solace in knowing that Jean and Cyclops, will take good care of them. He can now let go. The million whispers in his head fades away. The raspy cavernous voice comes back, only much softer, as if it was trying to put a baby to sleep:

"Night-night Professor."

Charles's heart feels lighter. His head feels lighter. His arms and legs are getting lighter. In fact, even the tar-like substance that was pushing him down seems to get lighter. Xavier can now move again. Quickly, he pushes the bottom of the sea with his legs to get back up. He torpedoes toward the surface. As soon as his head breaks the surf, Xavier takes a big gasp of air, filling his lungs of oxygen. It burns like hell but the sweet relief of living washes it over in an instant. He's trying to understand what happened and that's when he hears it:

"_EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"_

The wail of the Banshee. As Professor Xavier looks up to the sky, Sean Cassidy swoops down wailing at the black sea. The tar-like liquid is contorting with pain. Charles can hear every thought of the symbiote screaming. The sea lashes out toward the sky to swat Banshee, clearing the way between the Professor and the shore. Xavier does not waste a moment swimming towards the shore. Thanks to the help of his student, the swim is much easier this time around.

As the professor finally reaches the shore, he's completely drained. With the last parcel of energy left in him, he makes sure to get far enough on land to keep the black substance at bay. Banshee joins him:

"Are you ok there Professor?"

"Thanks to you I am now. But I have one question though. How can you be here?"

"Let's just say it's a group effort. Jean saw that you were in danger and needed help. There was no time for us to get to ESU's lab before you went under. So, Jean is using herself as a bridge between me and the psi-link you've established with her, which allows me to be here. But I can only stay for a short period of time. This is really taking a lot out of her."

"I'm truly grateful Sean. Be sure to thank everybody for me when you get back."

"Will do Charles."

Charles takes a moment to watch Banshee fly away and then turns around to come face to face with a jungle.


	5. Chapter 5

The Venomous Lizard

Chapter 5

The sun is beating down hard. The air is warm and humid. By looking at the abundant vegetation, it is clear to the Professor that he is in some kind of tropical surrounding.

"Where am I", the Professor wonders. "Is this the savage land?"

And that's when he hears a familiar voice in his head. It's Jean Grey:

"Professor? Are you ok?"

"Yes Jean. And let me say it is good to hear your voice."

"Well I'm right here with you Professor. Do you need any help?"

"Not for the moment, thank you. Right now, I'm just trying to figure out where I am exactly."

In order to get an answer to his query, Charles decides to make his way in the jungle.

"By looking around, I seem to be in a place very similar to the savage land."

"Be careful Professor, you know the savage land is a very dangerous place"

As he ventures deeper in the jungle, Charles sees something that grabs his attention. Through the branches he can see something that resembles a wooden cabin.

"I'm definitely not in the savage land Jean. There seems to be a wooden cabin. I can see movement inside. I'm going to get closer to try and find some answers."

Walking towards the cabin, the Professor hears a strange noise. It's something between a hiss and a growl. The Professor stops and looks around to try and locate the source of the strange noise.

"What's wrong Professor? Why did you stop?", Jean asked.

"I think I'm being followed or stalked by some kind of animal."

Behind him, he hears a rustle in the bushes. He turns around but not quickly enough, all he sees are the leaves brushing in the wind.

"There is, unquestionably, something stalking me Jean. I'll hurry towards the cabin to seek refuge."

The Professor sprints in the direction of his would be shelter. Jean, worrying for Charles' safety:

"That's it Professor, I'm sending in someone to help you!"

The Professor sprints as fast as he can, jumping over bushes, fallen branches and rocks. Air is pumping through his lungs; his heart is beating out of his chest. His only objective is to get to the cabin before whatever is after him, gets him. He can hear his pursuer getting closer and closer. The hissing noise is getting louder and louder. The Professor does not waste time trying to see what is after him. It does not matter to him. Whatever it is, it's clearly not friendly. He finally reaches the porch of the cabin, jumps over the few steps leading to the door, reaches for the handle to open the door and, before he can touch the doorknob, gets tossed off the porch by something that feels like a Mack truck.

When he regains his senses, he opens his eyes to see what hit him with such brut force. Although his vision is blurry, he cannot mistake what he sees; a giant lizard rushing towards him. He moves aside just in time, but the lizard keeps coming. Like anybody else would have done, the Professor decides to flee. He runs back into the jungle hoping to find a safe place to hide. The lizard runs after him. The Professor runs in all directions, but the lizard keeps gaining on him. It quickly becomes clear to the Professor that between the both of them, the lizard has a clear advantage when it comes to running in the jungle. Xavier's sprint comes to a sudden end when he finds himself face to face with a wall of rocks. He tries to climb it, but to no avail. There's just no grip for him to latch on.

Xavier is cornered. The lizard gets closer to his prey. In the sky, the sun seems to give way to the clouds. The sky is getting darker. The air is getting colder. The wind starts to pick up. The lizard slowly gets closer and closer to the Professor. Rain starts pouring down. A roll of thunder is heard. The professor has his back against the wall and still trying to figure out a way out of this. Lightning scatters across the sky. The temperature keeps dropping. The lizard's movements seem to be getting heavier with each passing second. The rain turns to snow and from the sky a voice is heard:

"Run Professor."

Charles and his pursuer turn their head to the sky. The Professor can't hold back a smile as he instantly recognizes the voice of Storm. He stares at her for a second or two out of admiration. She looks down at him:

"Run Professor!"

The Professor snaps out of it and starts running back towards the cabin. The lizard runs after him but is unable to catch up. The cold temperature slowed his entire metabolism down rendering him sluggish. So sluggish that he eventually comes to a complete stop and passes out face first on the ground.

Charles finally reaches the cabin, climbs the stairs leading up to the door, grabs the doorknob, gives it a turn and before he enters the cabin, turns to the sky, looks up at Storm and gives her a smile filled with gratitude. From the skies, she looks down at him and smiles back.

_Meanwhile… E.S.U. Labs,_

The fight rages on between the Venomized Lizard and our two heroes. Lab equipment keeps flying around while Beast and Spider-man tries to protect the Rose family and sergeant Kincaid's squad. While one tries to create a diversion, the other protects the civilians from the tail whippings, claw scratching and jaw snapping. This fight is starting to take its toll out of Spidey and Beast. Every time Spider-man tries to web him up, the Lizard just rips trough the webbing as if it was made of paper. Every time Beast throws a punch or a kick, the Lizard dodges it at the last second, and when Beast is lucky enough to connect, the rough hide of the Lizard mixed with the Symbiote acts like a vibranium armour, absorbing the hit without causing any damage. An out of breath Spider-man starts to wonder:

"Um… Mr. McCoy? How long do you think the Professor is going to be in there?"

"I honestly can't say, but I'm hoping soon enough. Every offensive manoeuvre we tried to stop turned out to be an exercise in futility."

"Well we didn't try everything. We could just ask him politely."

"I think we're past the point of negotiations."

"Maybe Simon says?"

Having nothing more to lose, Spider-man swings across the lab, lands 6 feet in front of the Venomized Lizard and asks:

"Mr. Lizard may we ask you to please stop?"

The answer he gets is a violent tail whipping that he dodges thanks to his spider sense.

"No? Ok, then… I didn't want to do this, but you left me no choice. Simon says stop!"

The Venomized Lizard stops dead in its tracks, seems to be getting a bit woozy and passes out almost instantly leaving everyone in the lab very perplexed. Spider-man turns to Beast:

"See? Told you we didn't try everything…"


	6. Chapter 6

The Venomous Lizard

Chapter 6

Charles enters the cabin to find Dr. Connors sitting at the dinner table drinking a cup of coffee. Dr. Connors, not expecting any visitors, looks up at the intruder and nervously asks:

"Who… Who are you? How did you get here?"

"Hello Dr. Connors, my name is Charles Xavier. To answer your questions, I got here with the helps of my friends. As for who I am, let's just say I'm a friend who's here to get you out of this place."

Dr. Connors looks at him suspiciously and replies:

"Who's to say I want to leave? Maybe I'm happy here, alone, away from the people I love and care about. There's nobody to hurt here."

"Yes, but there's also nobody to help here. If I'm not mistaking Dr. Connors, you've devoted your life to find a way to regenerate missing limbs to help yourself, but also to help others in your situation. That's a very noble cause."

"Help others? Help others? Have you seen how I've helped others today? Have you seen how I've helped the people I love? Have you seen how I've helped my wife with countless sleepless nights, not knowing if and when I'll turn into that horrible Lizard?", Doc Connors tries in vain to hold back a few tears and adds:

"Have you seen how I've helped… my son?"

The Professor was unaware of the faith of Dr. Connors son, Billy (see ASM vol.1 #631). No psychic abilities were needed to understand that Curt Connors was responsible for some tragic event. After Charles takes a moment of silence out of respect for Dr. Connors, he tells him:

"I am truly sorry for what happened to your loved ones Dr. Connors, but you have to understand that you are not responsible for any of it. The Lizard is. And right now, both you and the Lizard are being controlled by an alien Symbiote that wants nothing more than to hurt people. That's why we need you to come back with me."

Dr. Connors slowly shakes his head from left to right.

"No. I'm not going back. All I bring to this world is fear, pain and suffering. I'm done. I'm staying here."

"That's not true Doctor. The Lizard brings all those things. Dr. Curt Connors brings something very valuable to this world. He brings hope."

Both men stopped talking for a few seconds and stood there, just looking at each other. Professor X offering a comforting smile to Dr. Connors, and Dr. Connors trying to figure out where he stands on the issue at hand. His brain is telling him to stay, but his heart knows that the Professor is right. The silence is broken by someone gently knocking at the cabin's door. The Doctor looks at the Professor wondering who it can be. Charles walks over to the door and opens it. On the other side, stands 12 years old Caroline Rose. Doctor Connors looks at her speechless and starts to tear up. He knows who she is and what his work means to her and her mother. Billy was about her age when he passed. The Professor welcomes her:

"Hello Caroline. Thank you for accepting my invitation to join us."

He smiles at her and she smiles back.

"Hi Charles. Dr. Connors, I just wanted to say thank you. Thank you for the research you're doing with my mom. My mom never told me what she was working on, so I never knew until I saw it today. Now I'm pretty sure things didn't go as planned today, but please don't stop trying. It's like my mom always says: when the paper's crumpled up it can't be perfect again, but it should never change the story you have to write. Today I saw that your story, is about giving people a second chance."

Dr. Connors is dumbfounded by the message delivered by such a young girl. His eyes seek refuge from those of Caroline and lands on Professor Xavier who looks down at Caroline:

"Thank you, Caroline. That was quite a beautiful."

He looks back over at Dr. Connors:

"So, what do you say Doctor? Do you want to wait for a fresh piece of paper, or do you want to write your story on the paper that was given to you?"

Dr. Connors is still speechless over everything that happened. Not being able to find the words to answer, he gently nods his head in a sign of agreement. Charles understands:

"Come with me. Let's go home."

_Meanwhile… E.S.U. Labs,_

Back at E.S.U. labs, Spider-man and Beast stand next to a passed out Venomized Lizard. Spider-man is puzzled by the situation:

"I don't understand. Usually, when the Lizard is defeated Dr. Connors takes over and he reverts back to himself. Why isn't it happening this time?"

Feeling the time was right for a little humor, Dr. McCoy answers:

"Well, Spider-man, according to the rules of the game if you don't say "Simon says" the subject must not obey your instructions."

Spider-man looks down at the Lizard:

"Simon says: revert back to Dr. Connors!"

Immediately, the transformation ensues. Spider-man and Beast looked at each other completely dumbfounded.

"That's it! From now on, I'm going with "Simon says". Goodbye expensive web fluid!"

From the back of the room, Rebecca calls out to them:

"Hey guys? The Professor and Caroline are back!"

At the same time, Dr. Connors starts to stir. In one leap, Beast joins them as Spidey stays to tend to the Doctor. Rebecca turns her attention to her daughter while Hank helps Charles sit up against the wall and makes sure that everything is ok:

"Professor? Are you ok? Do you need anything?"

"I'm quite alright. Thank you, Hank."

On the other side of the lab, Spidey does the same for Dr. Connors:

"Welcome back, Dr. Connors. How are you feeling?"

"I'll be ok. Tell me, did I hurt anyone?"

"Not this time, no. Hank McCoy and I were here to make sure of it."

"Thank God."

While Spidey helps Dr. Connors to stand up, they get interrupted by the thunderous voice of sergeant Kincaid:

"Dr. Curtis Connors. You are under arrest, for th-"

Spidey cuts him off in turn:

"No, wait! You can't arrest him now. This man is in need of some serious medical attention."

Getting the feeling he was being played for a fool, sergeant Kincaid replies:

"Whaddya talking about? This man is fine."

At that moment, Professor Xavier decides to jump in the conversation:

"Actually, sergeant Kincaid, although this man may look in perfect condition, there is still a matter of unbinding him from the alien Symbiote to take care of. You wouldn't want to relive our experience down at the police station, now would you?"

The sergeant stands there, looking around, not certain what to say or do. Finally, he turns to his squad and with a tone of impatience belches out to them:

"Well don't just stand there! Somebody calls me an ambulance!"

"No," says Spidey, "Our medical facilities are not equipped to deal with something like that. We need to get him to Reed Richards. He helped me once, when I was in the same situation."

Again, sergeant Kincaid gets the feeling he was being played for a fool. He looks around to see if someone will flinch, giving away that they were all pulling his chain. Nothing. Wanting to have the last word and show that he's in control of the situation, he adds:

"Fine. You can take him to Reed Richards, BUT with a police escort."

Minutes later, after making sure that the Rose family was well taken care of, the time comes to head for the Baxter Building. Beast asks Spider-man:

"I presume you won't be needing transportation to the Baxter Building?"

"You presume right Beastie. Air Spidey is the best way to travel. Beats the traffic every time."

Spidey takes off and web slings his way in the direction of the Baxter Building. As Beast turns his attention to Professor Xavier, making sure he is comfortably seated in the back seat, Dr. Connors sits up front. While Beast goes around the car to the driver's seat, Dr. Connors turns on his seat to look back at Charles. He stares at him for a brief moment with a puzzled look on his face, as if he was trying to figure out something.

"Is everything alright Doctor Connors?" asks the Professor.

"Huh? Oh… um… yes… I was just wondering… Professor, you know a lot about mutants. Is it true that some of them have the ability to regenerate or even change their physical appearance?"

THE END


End file.
